Securities and Exchange Commissioner Luis Aguilar, a Democratic, announced Monday he is resigning on December 31.
His term ended in June, but by law he was allowed to stay on.
Without Aguilar and departed Republican Daniel Gallagher, the five member Commission would be down to three: Chair Mary Jo White and Kara Stein, both Democrats, and Republican Michael Piwowar.
On October 20, President Obama nominated George Washington University securities law professor Lisa Fairfax to take Aguilar’s place and for Hester Peirce, George Mason University’s Mercatus Center Financial Markets Working Group director, to succeed Gallagher.
The two need to be confirmed by the Senate.
The Senate Banking Committee has not scheduled a hearing on their nominations.
If confirmed, Fairfax would be the second black woman to sit on the SEC.